User Guide for ECA Risk Report

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Introduction

The State Board of Accounts (SBOA) has implemented the ECA Risk Report through the Indiana Gateway for Government Units (Gateway) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 and following.

Per IC 5-11-1-4 school corporations are required to provide electronically and in a manner prescribed by the State Examiner, financial reports for the fiscal year not later than sixty days after the close of the fiscal year.

Effective July 1, 2015, Public Law 181-2015 amended IC 5-11-1-25 to require the SBOA to develop risk based examination criteria and then determine the frequency each audited entity is required to be examined based on the results of a risk based assessment.

The ECA Risk Report filed through Gateway is a part of the financial reports required to be filed by the school corporation per IC 5-11-1-4 and has been designed as the tool for school corporations to provide the risked based criteria for their extra-curricular accounts (ECAs) to allow SBOA to evaluate for an appropriate level of risk.

The Gateway was developed as a collaborative project among the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF), the State Board of Accounts (SBOA), and the Indiana Business Research Center (IBRC) at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business as part of the Information for Indiana (IFI) initiative. IBRC also hosts and maintains the site. Funding is provided by IBRC and the State of Indiana.

The public can access the ECA Risk Report on the Gateway public site here.

New for 2017

Risk Assessment

The Risk Assessment form can be saved even though it is partially completed. A checkbox will appear at the bottom of the form after all questions have been answered. You will have a submission error if the risk assessment is not completed and the box is not checked.

Cash Reconcilement

An option has been added to upload an Excel spreadsheet of the outstanding check list.

Getting Started

What schools are required to complete the ECA Risk Report?

All schools and turn around academies with extra-curricular accounts must complete the ECA Risk Report through the Gateway. This does not apply to charter schools.

Is completion of the ECA Risk Report via Gateway mandatory?

Yes. The ECA Risk Report filed through Gateway is a part of the financial reports required to be filed by the school corporation per IC 5-11-1-4.

When is the ECA Risk Report due?

The ECA Risk Report is due sixty days after the end of the fiscal year, which is August 29. This is the same due date as the school corporation Annual Financial Report required per IC 5-11-1-4.

What happens if the ECA Risk Report is not submitted via Gateway?

SBOA will only recognize submission of the ECA Risk Reports through Gateway. SBOA will not accept the report in paper form or in any other format. If it is not submitted through Gateway, as prescribed, the extra-curricular account (ECA) will be considered high risk and the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) may not approve the budget of the school corporation in accordance with IC 5-11-1-4.

The school year ended in May. Is it a problem to close the books in May or should we wait until June?

You can close the books in May. We will not take exception if the books are closed in May or June.

Who is responsible for completing and submitting the ECA Risk Report?

The fiscal officer for the school corporation, usually the school corporation treasurer/controller, is responsible for submitting the ECA Risk Report. This is the same person that is responsible for submitting the Annual Financial Report on Gateway for the school corporation. The fiscal officer can assign edit rights to ECA Treasurers or other users to specific ECAs by completing the ECA Delegation of Authority Form found on our website. Edit rights gives the user access to enter, change and delete data as well as generate the various reports within the ECA Risk Report. However, they will not be able to submit the report. The fiscal officer must submit the report. If changes need to be made after the report is submitted, the fiscal officer must un-submit the report.

User Names and Passwords

As an authorized user of the Indiana Gateway for Government Units, you will have a user name and password to access the Gateway program. Your user name is the email address on file with SBOA. You will be responsible for all information entered into Gateway under your user name and password.

How do I obtain a user name and password to login?

If you are the Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller) responsible for submitting and do not already have a Gateway user name and password, please send your request to our help desk at gateway@sboa.in.gov. Include your name, job title, email address, school corporation name, county and the ECA names you need access to submit.

If you are an ECA Treasurer or other user that needs access, the Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller) must request access for you by completing the ECA Delegation of Authority Form found on our website. If someone no longer requires access to the ECA Risk Report, please let us know by completing the Delegation of Authority form or emailing our help desk so their access can be removed. Please notify our help desk if your email address changes so you will not miss any emails sent by SBOA to Gateway users.

What is my password?

Your initial password should have been automatically emailed to you when your Gateway user name was created. If you have forgotten your password, you may click on the “Forgot your password?” link located on the Gateway login screen. This will direct you to enter your user name (which is your email address). When you click “Submit”, a new password will be emailed to you. If you don’t receive the new password at the expected address, contact us at gateway@sboa.in.gov. After using this new password to log in, this initial password should be changed by clicking “Account Settings” and clicking on the “Change Password” link.

My password will not work and the "forgot password" function will not recognize my user name. How can I get my password reset?

A user name will be locked if there have been 5 consecutive invalid login attempts. To unlock your user name, contact us at gateway@sboa.in.govand we will unlock your user name and email you a new password. This control prevents others from inappropriately attempting to access Gateway through password guessing. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you.

How do I change my password?

To change your password, you must first login in with your current user name and password. Click on “Account Settings” which is located under the Gateway heading. Scroll to the bottom of the Account Settings screen and click on the “Change Password” link.

What are the password requirements?

Passwords must be at least seven characters long.

Can my user name and password be shared with others in my office so that they can enter and review data?

Each person that needs update access to Gateway should have their own user name and password. The Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller) may request that additional user names be created with either Edit rights or Read Only rights by completing the ECA Delegation of Authority Form found on our website. The Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller) is responsible for submitting a complete and accurate ECA Risk Report regardless of who entered or reviewed the data.

How long can the Gateway screens be inactive before being timed out of the Gateway system?

For security purposes and to limit resource usage, after 20 minutes of inactivity the Gateway system will time out. To resume work, you will need to re-enter your user name and password.

Preparing to Enter Data

Can I upload data from my financial accounting system into the ECA Risk Report?If so, what format is required?

Yes, you can upload the information on the Schedule of Balances, Receipts and Expenditures. There are links within the application to download the three templates needed, but if you want to prepare the files ahead of time, you can use the links below. If you download the templates from the links below, make sure to rename the file so that you won’t lose your work if you subsequently download the file from the application and it overwrites the file that contains your school’s data. When completing these files, be sure to use the EXACT SAME fund names in each file. If the fund names within the three files do not match exactly, this will create an upload error. Also, the data must be in the same columns as it is in the templates and the sheet names must be the same as in the templates. The sheet name is the name on the tab at the bottom of the worksheet.

When I’m ready to upload my Fund, Receipts, and Expenditures files, how should the files be named?

You may name the upload files any name you wish, but they must be in an Excel file type of .xlsx and have that file extension. Other file formats are not accepted. For
more details on this process, see the Uploading Data Files section of this user guide.

Can I upload the outstanding check list?

Yes. The template can be downloaded here https://gateway.ifionline.org/ECA/template.xlsx. The upload file must be in the Excel file format of .xlsx. No other file type is accepted. Each time you upload the template, you will overwrite any previously entered or uploaded outstanding check list data. For more information, see the Cash Reconcilement section.

What information or documents do I need to complete the risk assessment?

Please review the
questions in the user guide so that you have all of the answers ready before beginning. If applicable, have a copy of your credit or debit card policy in a jpg, pdf, gif, tif or png format ready to upload.

Accessing the ECA Risk Report

The Gateway login screen states that the site works best in Firefox and Chrome. Internet Explorer (IE) is not a supported browser, but should generally work if you have version 9 or above. If you are using IE version 9 with Gateway applications, you should turn Compatibility View On.

To turn Compatibility View on or off, click the Compatibility View button as shown below. A light colored button indicates that Compatibility is Off, while a dark button indicates that Compatibility is On. You can also change to compatibility view by going to the Tools Menu, and clicking on Compatibility View. A checkmark by Compatibility View indicates that it is On.

When you report problems, let us know which web browser and version you are using.

Logging into Gateway

If you have forgotten your password, you may click on the “Forgot your password?” link shown above. This will direct you to enter your User Name (which is your e-mail address). When you click “Submit”, a new password will be e-mailed to you. If you don’t receive the new password, contact us at gateway@sboa.in.gov to change it for you. After logging on with the new password, you should change your password by clicking “Account Settings” and clicking on the “Change Password” link.

After logging in, you will see the applications page. Click on the "ECA Risk Report" link as shown below.

Banner Icons

The top banner (shown above) includes Home, About, Account Settings, User Guides and Logout buttons. What are these for?

The Home button allows you to select other Gateway applications.

The About button provides background about the Gateway system.

The Account Settings button is used to change your password.

The User Guides button provides links to User Guides and other reference material for each application.

The Logout button is used to logout.

Selecting a Unit

The ECAs assigned to you are listed. Click on your ECA name. If your ECA is not listed, the wrong ECA appears, you do not have the correct role or there are any other discrepancies, request that the Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller) email gateway@sboa.in.gov so that the access problem can be corrected. The Fiscal Officer's (Treasurer/Controller) list should include a link for each ECA within the school corporation and should have the Submitter role, as noted below.

Then select the year for the reporting period ending June 30, for example, "2016 Fiscal Year - ECA Risk Reporting".

Main Menu

The Main Menu guides you through the ECA Risk Report sections. When accessing the Annual Reporting section, "breadcrumbs" appear on both the top and the bottom of the screens that allow you to access the various subsections or return to the Main Menu, as noted below.

This User Guide addresses each of these sections in the same order in which they appear in the Main Menu and are summarized below.

Risk Assessment - 20 questions to answer along with follow-up questions. If applicable, will upload a credit or debit card policy.

Annual Reporting - includes the following 4 subsections accessed through the breadcrumbs:

Schedule of Balances, Receipts and Expenditures

Cash Reconcilement

Report Certificate

Review

Report Output - 5 reports are available to view or open in an Excel or a PDF document.

Submit - Report is not filed until it is submitted. This is only available to the Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller).

Below is an example of what the Main Menu should look like before any data has been entered. However, those with Editor or Read Only access will not have the Submit option and it will say Review instead.

There is a "Status" column on the right side of the Main Menu to track your progress.

After the ECA Risk Report has been submitted, the date/time stamp when it was submitted is in the Status column. For users with submit access, there is also a link to click to "Unsubmit" the report if errors are subsequently identified. The Risk Assessment and Annual Reporting sections are locked for editing after it is submitted and can't be changed. If errors are found after the report is submitted, the Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller) must unsubmit the report by clicking the "Unsubmit" link under the Status column.

Risk Assessment

There are 20 questions that must be answered. Some have follow-up questions depending upon your answer. For Question 20, you must upload a credit or debit card policy, if applicable. The file that is uploaded should have all pages included. If there are multiple pages, all pages must be in one file, in order and in the correct orientation so that it is readable. It must be in a jpg, gif, tif, pdf or png format. Please click on the link to the file after it is uploaded to verify that the correct file was uploaded and that it is readable.

Your scanner may allow you to scan multiple pages to one file or document. If you need to merge multiple documents and have never done this before, there are many free tools and information available on the internet on how to convert files to PDF or that allow you to combine multiple pages into one document. Search on the internet using a phrase such as "creating pdf files or "combining pdf files". For example, https://smallpdf.com/ converts many different file formats to pdf. For help in converting a Word document to PDF, see http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-a-Microsoft-Word-Document-to-PDF-Format.

If you still need assistance creating the document to upload, there are many businesses that provide this service for a small fee such as Staples, Office Depot, Kinko's, etc. You can also ask your local library for assistance.

NOTE: Your risk assessment answers and any related files you upload within this section are for the State Board of Accounts use only and will not be made available on the Gateway Public site.

After answering the questions, click on the "Click here to Save Form" button. If there are questions that were not answered, you will see a list of the questions that were not answered at the top of the screen and the question will have "*Required Field" on the right next to the answers. The form is saved and you may exit the screen. The questions that were answered will be saved and you can return later to complete the form.

If there were no missing fields, then you will see the message "Form Saved. The form must still be marked as ready to submit below." at the bottom of the screen in red.

In order to submit your report, you must complete the risk assessment and then check the box as shown below to show that it is complete. You will have a submission error, if the risk assessment is not completed and the box is not checked.

Below is a list of all of the risk assessment questions. Please review the questions before starting the data entry to make this section easier to complete. Have any files needed ready to upload and all the information to answer the questions.

Note: If you have a credit or debit card policy, Question 20b requires a file to be uploaded.

1

How is the ECA's ledger maintained?

Hand Posted or Computerized

2

Was a financial report made within two weeks after the close of the school year or after each semester if your school has two (2) or more semesters in a school year, of all fund activity to the school board and superintendent of schools in accordance with IC 20-41-1-3 and IC 20-41-1-8?

Yes/No

3

Was the ECA bank account balance reconciled to the ledger balances on a monthly basis?

Yes/No

3a

How frequently are bank account balances reconciled without any difference or variance?

Most of the time/All of the time

4

Does anyone review and approve the completed bank reconcilements?

Yes/No

4a

List the position and name of the person(s) reviewing completed reconcilement.

5

Does the ECA have any investments (certificates of deposit, savings accounts, etc.)?

Yes/No

5a.

If yes, list the name of the bank(s) where the investments are maintained.

6

Are any investments accounted for on the ECA ledger?

Yes/No

7

Is a receipt issued for all monies received and at the time the money is received?

Yes/No

8

Please indicate how often deposits are made? Which best fits your situation?

Weekly, Monthly

9

When totaling the receipts issued for the day does the classification of the receipts (i.e. cash, checks, etc.) and the classification as shown on the deposit ticket (i.e. currency, checks, etc.) agree? This would include collections for items like textbook rental, fundraisers, ticket sales, etc.

Are the Purchase Order/Accounts Payable Vouchers (Form SA-1) and/or Claim for Payment (Form SA-7) signed by the appropriate officials?

Yes/No

14a

List the position and name of the person(s) signing Purchase Order/Accounts Payable vouchers (Form SA-1) and/or Claim for Payment (SA-7).

15

Are prenumbered tickets used for sporting and other events for which an admission price is collected?

Yes/No/Not Applicable

15a

If yes, are Ticket Sales (Form SA-4) reports used to reconcile the number of tickets sold to the amount of collections to be turned over to the ECA treasurer?

Yes/No

16

Do any school personnel stock vending machines and remove money from the machine?

Yes/No

16a

If yes, is Form SA-9, Accountable Items Review, completed at least once per school year?

Yes/No

17

The Summary of collection Form (SA-8) is to be used when a teacher, class sponsor, or other personnel are in charge of collecting money (for a field trip, fundraiser, etc.) that is later turned over to the ECA treasurer. Was Form SA-8 used to transmit monies collected by teachers, class sponsors, etc. to the ECA treasurer?

Yes/No

18

Are any outside organizations such as booster clubs, 4-H, Girl Scouts, PTO/PTA, etc. accounted for in the ECA ledgers?

Yes/No/Not Applicable

18a

If yes, please list those organizations.

19

Are all fundraisers approved by the School Board?

Yes/No

19a

If yes, has the School Board established controls and procedures over fundraisers?

Yes/No

20

Does the ECA have a credit/debit card or local business charge accounts issued in the name of the school?

Yes/No

20a

If yes, has the School Board approved a policy related to the use of the credit/debit card or local business charge account?

Are credit card statements or debit card transactions reviewed often for irregularities?

Yes/No

Annual Reporting

The Annual Reporting section is where you complete these sections of the report:

Schedule of Balances, Receipts and Expenditures

Cash Reconcilement

Report Certificate

Review

Each of these sections are detailed below in this user guide.

Schedule of Balances, Receipts and Expenditures

The Schedule of Balances, Receipts and Expenditures can be accessed by selecting "Annual Reporting" from the Main Menu. This data can be entered manually on the screen or it can be uploaded. These options are described in more detail later in this user guide.

Classifications

The classifications (Source of Receipts, Nature of Receipts and Purpose of Expenditure) should come from the classifications/descriptions within your accounting system. If these do not exist, below is some general guidance on how to classify your transactions:

For the "Source of Receipts", examples include admissions, state distributions, local grants, federal distributions (lunch), sales, etc.

Do not net receipts and expenditures to the extent that the report will be incomprehensible. Neither receipts nor expenditures should be combined and listed as miscellaneous items.

Fund Names

If you have numerous funds and /or you prefer to have funds displayed in a certain order, you may want to prefix the fund names with fund numbers. Both the Summary Schedule and Detail reports within the ECA Risk Report sort the funds alphabetically as text fields, not as numeric fields. For example, if you choose to prefix your fund name with the fund numbers of 9, 33 and 111 the fields would be sorted in the following order: 111, 33 and 9 since it sorts by the first character. To enable these fund numbers to appear in numerical order, you will need to add leading zeros to the fund numbers (e.g. 009, 033 and 111). If you have uploaded your files and later decide you would like to see the funds listed in a different order, you will either need to modify all of the upload files or you can simply modify the fund name online and you will not need to make any changes to the receipts and expenditures.

Negative Receipts and Negative Expenditures

The ECA Risk Report will not allow you to enter a negative receipt amount or a negative expenditure amount. If your accounting system allows negative amounts (e.g. refunds, voids or other types of negative entries), you need to make adjustments to your extracted data before finalizing the upload files. For example, you will need to classify negative expenditures as positive receipts and classify negative receipts as positive expenditures.

Deleting a Fund, Receipt or Expenditure

You can either modify your upload files and re-upload or manually delete the fund, receipt or expenditure online. To manually delete a fund, click the "Delete" button that appears to the right of the ending fund balance. This will delete the fund and any related receipts and expenditures. To delete a receipt or expenditure, you must first click on the "Edit" button to the left of the fund name, then scroll down to the receipt or expenditure and click the "Delete" button next to the entry. You may need to use the scroll bar on the right to locate the fund, receipt or expenditure. A pop-up will ask you to confirm that you want to permanently delete the fund, receipt or expenditure. After you have finished making your changes, click on the "Save the Fund and the Detail" button.

If you have uploaded or manually entered any funds that have a beginning and ending balance of zero AND do not have any receipts or expenditures entered, this will cause a submission error to appear within the Review section and the Submit section. Any funds without a beginning balance and no activity must be deleted before the ECA Risk Report can be submitted.

Editing a Fund, Receipt or Expenditure

If you have uploaded or manually entered any funds, receipts or expenditures that need to be corrected, you can either correct the upload files or edit the entry using the manual process. Click on the "Edit" button that appears to the left of the fund name. From there you can make changes to the fund name or beginning balance. To edit a receipt or expenditure, scroll down to locate the transaction and make the changes. After you have finished making the changes to the fund, click on the "Save the Fund and the Detail" button.

Sorting the Entries As They Appear Online

To help with the review process, you may temporarily change the sort order of items that appear in the grids by clicking on the column heading. This will not necessarily change the order as it appears on the output report since the sort order on the reports can also be modified after the report has been generated. The funds can be sorted by Name of Fund, Balance at Beginning of Period, Receipts during Period, Expenditures and/or Balance at End of Period.

Reviewing Data

Once the beginning balances, receipts and expenditures have been entered, click on the Report Output link on the Main Menu to run reports to verify that the data is accurate and complete. See the Report Output section of the user guide for additional information.

Uploading Data Files

Creating Upload Files

You can manually enter the beginning balances, receipts and expenditures, but in almost all cases it will be MUCH easier to use the UPLOAD process to enter your financial data. The manual process can be used after uploading if you need to make minor changes to a small number of records.

The links to the upload file templates are located on the upload screens. The Receipt and Expenditure templates are not accessible until the beginning fund balances have been successfully uploaded. So if you prefer to create all of the upload files before starting the upload process, the links below can be used. Just make sure that if you chose to download the links from the application that they do not overwrite the files you have already created.

IT IS CRITICAL THAT EACH FUND NAME USED IN THE RECEIPT AND/OR EXPENDITURE FILES ALSO EXISTS IN THE BEGINNING BALANCE FILE EVEN IF THE BEGINNING BALANCE IN THE FUND WAS $0. If a fund name has not been included in the Fund upload file, you will receive an error message when uploading receipts and/or expenditures for that fund. If the fund names in the three files don't match, it will not be possible to compute an ending balance that agrees with your records. If you have a fund that has NO beginning balance, NO receipts and NO expenditures, do not include that fund in any of the upload files. If the fund has a beginning balance, but no receipts or expenditures, the fund will only exist in the fund upload file. If the fund has no receipts, the fund will only be included in the fund upload file and the expenditure upload file.

The receipts and expenditures files should not have any negative amounts. If you have negative receipts, they should be entered as expenditures and if you have negative expenditures, they should be entered as receipts.

All fields on the templates are required. Do NOT leave any fields blank. The data must be in the same columns as it is in the templates and the sheet names must be the same as in the templates. The sheet name is the name on the tab at the bottom of the worksheet.

It is highly recommended that the financial data be uploaded by extracting the data from your computerized accounting system rather than entering the information via the on-line screens. The fund names and classifications (source of receipts, nature of receipts and purpose of expenditure) should come from the classifications used within your accounting system.

The upload files must be Excel files of the type .xlsx. OTHER FILE TYPES ARE NOT ACCEPTED.

If the files need to be uploaded again, all data from previously uploaded files (e.g. beginning fund balances, receipts and expenditures) or manually entered will be deleted when the new files are uploaded. The previously entered data cannot be restored.

If you have not already downloaded the Fund Template, click on the "Click to download the Fund Excel Template" link as shown below.

Open the downloaded Excel file named "Fund_Template.xlsx" and use it to create your upload file as shown below. You may choose to include a fund number, if you have one, as part of the fund name as shown below. This will allow for sorting the fund by the fund number. Remember to include it in the Receipts and Expenditures templates as well, if you include it in the Fund Template.

After your upload file is ready, select the "Browse" button.

Navigate to where the upload files are stored on your computer. Select the Fund Template that you wish to upload so the name is in the File Name box and click the "Open" button.

The fund name you selected will be displayed on the screen. Click on the "Upload File" button.

If there were no upload errors, you will see a message in red that the file was successfully uploaded. Then Steps 3 to 6 will be available to upload the receipts and the expenditures in the same manner. Also, if you scroll down the screen, you will see that the fund balances have been loaded.

Upload File Errors

If there was a problem with the upload file, you will see an error message in red that tells you what the problem is with the file. In the example below, there was a blank fund name in the file. You must review your upload file to find the error and make the necessary corrections. Then start at step 1 to upload the file again.

If you identify errors in your data after the files have been uploaded (for example, incorrect amounts or missing funds), make any necessary corrections to the upload files and start at step 1 to upload the files again.

Manual Data Entry

If you choose tonot usethe upload option, you can enter the data manually.

To add a fund, click on the "Click here to Add a New Fund" link, then fill in the fund name and beginning balance. Then click on "Save the Fund and the Detail" to save the fund.

You can also enter a receipt and/or expenditure at this time. If you do, make sure you enter data in all of the fields and click the "Save Receipt" and "Save Expenditure" buttons before clicking the "Save the Fund and the Detail" button or you may lose the receipt and expenditure that you entered.

Note that there is a scroll bar on the right to scroll down to see the other funds. The totals at the bottom of the screen provide a running total for your entries and consist of the beginning balance, receipts, expenditures and ending balance for all funds.

After you save the fund, the screen will appear as below. You can click the "Edit" button on the left next to the fund name to make any changes to the fund and to add receipts and expenditures to the fund. Click the "Delete" button on the right next to the ending balance to delete the fund and all of its receipts and expenditures.

When you are editing a fund, the screen will appear as below. You can make changes to the fund name and beginning balance, then click the "Save the Fund and the Detail" button to save the changes. Click the "Cancel" button if you do not wish to save the changes. To enter receipts and expenditures, use the scroll bar on the right.

To add another receipt, enter data in all of the fields below and click on the "Add Receipt" button. To edit a receipt that has already been entered, click on the "Edit Receipt" button on the left next to the receipt. To delete a receipt, click on the "Delete" button to the right of the receipt.

If you click on the "Edit Receipt" button, the screen will appear as below. Make the changes and click the "Save" button to save the changes or the "Cancel" button to discard the changes.

To add an expenditure, enter data in all of the fields below and click on the "Add Expenditure" button. To edit an expenditure that has already been entered, click on the "Edit Expenditure" button on the left. To delete an expenditure, click on the "Delete" button to the right of the expenditure.

If you click the "Edit Expenditure" button, the screen will appear as below. Make the changes and click the "Save" button to save the changes or the "Cancel" button to discard the changes.

When you are finished adding receipts and/or expenditures for a fund, click on the "Save the Fund and the Detail" button at the top or the bottom of the screen to make sure all of your changes for the fund are saved.

Note: As you are entering and making changes to the fund information, the receipts and the expenditures, you may need to scroll up and down to see all of the data. Also, make sure that you click the correct "Delete" button when deleting data. There is a delete button for the fund, each receipt and each expenditure. Read the confirmation box and make sure you are deleting what you intended.

Cash Reconcilement

The Cash Reconcilement section can be accessed by selecting "Annual Reporting" from the Main Menu and then clicking on the "Cash Reconcilement" breadcrumb at the top (or bottom) of the
screen.

All cells in this section are required. Enter a 0 (zero) in any cell that is not applicable. The total of Outstanding Checks and the Balance are calculated for you.

Definitions

Depository Balance - Enter the ending balance on your bank statement for the period ending or including June 30.

Cash on Hand - Enter the amount included in your June 30 fund balances that was on hand, but was not deposited (e.g. petty cash, change fund).

Deposits in Transit - Enter deposits not included within the bank statement due to timing (e.g. June 30 deposit made after the bank's close of business).

Other Reconciling Items - Examples include bank errors not yet corrected, any bank statement transactions dated between July 1 and the ending date of your bank statement. Retain documentation of these items for audit.

Total of Outstanding Checks - Calculated from the outstanding checks entered on the Cash Reconcilement when you click the "Save and Calculate Total of Outstanding Check and Balance" button. There is no upload process for outstanding checks, so these should be entered individually on the Cash Reconcilement screen.

Balance - Compute when you click the "Save and Calculate Total of Outstanding Check and Balance" button.

Outstanding Checks

Manual Entry

To manually enter outstanding checks, click on the Add new record link at the top or the bottom of the grid.

Enter the information in the cells and click the Insert button to add the check or the Cancel button to discard it.

After the check is added, you can click on the red X on the right next to the check to delete it or click on the Edit button on the left to make changes.

By clicking on the column heading, you can change the sort order so that it sorts by Date, Check Number or Amount.

Optional Upload

If you wish to upload the Outstanding Check List, click on the Optional Upload link shown below.

You will see the pop up window below. Click on the link to download the template file. This file is in the Excel format of .xlsx. This is the only type of file that can be uploaded. The template can also be downloaded here.

Open the template file and enter the outstanding check information. A sample file is shown below.

Save the Excel template on your computer so that you can easily find it. Click on the Choose file button to select the file to upload.

Navigate to the folder on your computer where the file is saved and click on the file name to select it. The file name will be in the file name box at the bottom of the screen. Click the Open button to choose the file.

The file name will be displayed on the screen now, next to the Choose File button. Click on the Upload file button to upload the file. The data from the file will now be displayed in the Outstanding Checks grid on the Cash Reconcilement screen.

If there were errors in the upload file, the data will not be in the grid and you will see a message that says "Upload Failed" in red above the grid as shown below. If the upload fails, please review the upload file in Excel, make any corrections needed and upload the file again. Some items to check when reviewing the file are:

There should not be text in the date, check number or amount fields. This includes dollar signs and commas.

None of the fields should be blank.

The column headings on the template should not be changed. They should be outstand_date, number, amount.

There should not be any other columns added to the template.

Saving the Form

Click on the "Save and Calculate Total of Outstanding Check and Balance" button to calculate balances and save the Cash Reconcilement.

If you leave a field blank, the form will not be saved and you will see "Required field" in red next to the blank cell.

After the form is saved, you can go to the "Review" by clicking on the breadcrumb at the top or the bottom of the screen to determine if the reconciled balance agrees with the ending balance of the funds entered on the prior screen. If it does not balance, the error message will state, "Balance End of Period Total of $xx,xxx.xx does not match Cash Reconcilement balance of $xx,xxx.xx." You must then go back to the Schedule of Balances, Receipts and Expenditures and/or the Cash Reconcilement to correct any errors so that the report is in balance. You will not be able to submit until the report is in balance.

What if I can't get my reconcilement to balance?

First, go back and see in what month it began to not reconcile and investigate if there were errors made. Second, if you have tried and can't find the error, then you should maintain the difference for a period of time, for example 6 months or so. Then present the problem to the board and request approval for adjusting the records for the difference. Show the difference on the Cash Reconcilement screen on the line called "Other Reconciling Items".

Report Certificate

The Report Certificate can be accessed by selecting "Annual Reporting" from the Main Menu and then clicking on the "Report Certificate" breadcrumb at the top (or bottom) of the screen.

All cells in this section are required. Fill in the blanks related to your bank, bond, date school closed (last day of the school year) and school officials. Click on the Update Report Certificate button to save the form.

If you leave a field blank, the form will not be saved and you will see an error message in red at the top of the screen telling you the field that needs to be completed.

When all of the fields are completed and you click on the Update Report Certificate button, you will see the message "Form Saved Successfully" in red at the top of the screen.

On the next page below is an example of a completed Report Certificate after generating the report from the Report Output section. If you have not already done so, you should print, sign and send copies to the officials listed at the bottom of the form, as applicable. You should also keep a signed copy for your records. Do Not Send a Copy To SBOA.

Review

The Review section can be accessed by selecting "Annual Reporting" from the Main Menu and then clicking on the "Review" breadcrumb at the top (or bottom) of the screen.

Please carefully review the fund names, transaction amounts, classifications and system calculated ending balances as they appear on-line or on the various reports to make sure they are correct. If you identify any errors, you may either correct the upload files and then re-upload all three files, or you may add, modify or delete any of the uploaded fund descriptions, beginning balances, receipts or expenditure amounts, and/or classifications from within the Annual Reporting section. Also, review the Cash Reconcilement, Report Certificate and Risk Assessment reports to verify they are correct.

Submission Errors and Warnings

The Review section (and the Submit section which is only accessible by the Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller)) contains a list of all system identified submission errors and warnings. Any errors must be fixed before the ECA Risk Report can be submitted. Warnings indicate possible problems, but will not prevent you from submitting your ECA Risk Report. Click on the link next to the error or warning to quickly navigate to the appropriate screen to review the information and make any corrections needed.

Report Output

After you have entered the data, you can go to the Report Output section on the Main Menu to view the reports on-line or save the reports to a PDF or Excel file. These reports are useful for reviewing entries for accuracy.

Below are examples of how the on-line reports appear. Note that the column headings have arrows next to them. By clicking on these, you can change the sort order. If you choose to export the report to an Excel or PDF file, it will be sorted in the order that you selected.

Note above that the outstanding checks can be sorted by check number by clicking on the arrows in the Number column heading.

To save the reports to your computer, click on the Export icon and select either PDF or Excel.

For an example of the Risk Assessment Report, see the Risk Assessment section of the user guide.

For an example of the Report Certificate, see the Report Certificate section of the user guide.

Submit

The submission process is the last step and it can only be performed by the Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller) who should have Submitter rights for the ECA Risk Report. Your report is not filed with SBOA until it is submitted.

From the Main Menu, select Submit and then you will see the screen below.

If there are errors, it cannot be submitted. Warnings will indicate potential problems which will need to be reviewed. However, warnings will not prevent you from submitting. If you only have Edit rights, you will not be able to go to this section. An individual with Editor rights can access this same information by going to the Review section. Once there are NO errors, the "Submit Form" button will appear at the VERY BOTTOM of the screen, below any warnings.

After reading and agreeing to the certification statement, click on the "Submit Form" button. You will see a message that confirms that the form has been submitted and an "Unsubmit Form" button is available if you need to unsubmit the form to make changes.

The submit status changes and the submitted date/time appears at the
bottom of the Main Menu under the Status column along with the link to the screen to Un-Submit the form.

Unsubmitting the Report to Make Corrections

If errors or omissions are subsequently identified, the ECA Risk Report can be unsubmitted by the Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller). Go to the Main Menu and click on the link to unsubmit the ECA Risk Report at the bottom of the Status column. You will see the screen shown above. Click on the Unsubmit Form button. You will see a confirmation box asking you if you are sure that you want to unsubmit your report. Click OK to unsubmit the report.

You can then go back to any of the screens from the Main Menu and make any corrections needed. After the corrections are made, the Fiscal Officer (Treasurer/Controller) must submit the ECA Risk Report again.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) will be updated from time to time based upon common questions received by our help desk at gateway@sboa.in.gov.

If I have questions, who should I contact?

If this user guide does not adequately answer your questions, email our help desk at gateway@sboa.in.gov. This would include questions such as requesting user names and passwords, obtaining access to your particular school ECA, what type of data should be entered, how transactions should be classified or how to answer the risk assessment questions. If you are having technical issues, contact ibrctech@iupui.edu. This includes questions such as what to do when you have a server error, data that is not saved or links not working.

Do I need to send any hard copy printed ECA Risk Reports to the State Board of Accounts?

No. Please do not send SBOA any of the reports you are able to generate from the ECA Risk Reports. The submission process allows SBOA to access the information directly from Gateway and includes the necessary certification language.

How do I know if my ECA Risk Report has been submitted?

You will see the date/time stamp when it was submitted on the last line in the Status column on the Main Menu. If there is not a date/time stamp, the ECA Risk Report has not been submitted.

I downloaded the Excel templates to upload the data, but I don't have the latest version of Excel. Can I still upload using my old version of Excel?

The upload files must be in the file type of xlsx which is used by Microsoft Office 2007 or newer. If you have a version of Microsoft Office that is older than that and it will not read the templates, please contact our help desk at gateway@sboa.in.gov for assistance.

Our school corporation hired a CPA firm to audit our ECAs. Are we still required to submit the ECA Risk Report on Gateway?

Yes. Any review of the ECA records that you have contracted with a CPA firm to do should be treated as a review to assist you in making management decisions and is not a substitute for our responsibility to review your records or for you to submit required reports to us.